The present invention relates to a door construction. More particularly, the present invention relates to a door construction having an improved locking channel assembly which includes a pair of locking channel elements mounted on the closing edges of a pair of doors.
My earlier U.S. Pat. No. 4,545,607 Oct. 8, 1985 for "Door Construction" discloses a door construction having a door hinged to a frame wherein the door has a locking channel which can be released to allow the door to swing to an open position. The locking channel is pivotally mounted upon a vertical axis on the closing edge of the door and extends substantially the height of the door. When the door is closed, the locking channel interlocks with an elongated locking element which also extends substantially the height of the door. Other door constructions are shown in my U.S. Pat. Nos.: 3,969,845 Jul. 20, 1976 for "Door Construction", U.S. Pat. No. 4,093,284 Jun. 6, 1978 for "Door Construction" and U.S. Pat. No. 3,973,289 Aug. 10, 1976 for "Door Hinges." The present invention is in the nature of an improvement of the door constructions shown in my earlier patents.
The present invention is especially well adapted for use in conjunction with pairs of doors which must be well sealed against weather, sound or fire. On traditional pairs of doors, the gap between the two doors is covered by an astragal plate mounted to one of the doors, called the active door. When the active door is in the closed position, the astragal overlaps the inactive door. This traditional door arrangement has numerous disadvantages. First, the astragal is generally considered to be hardware which is supplied separate from the active door, thus necessitating field installation. Also, once mounted, an astragal does not necessarily conform neatly with the inactive door when closed. A poor fit provides a poor weather, sound or fire seal. For effective sealing, a special gasket may be required in addition to the astragal. Furthermore, the overlap of the astragal necessitates the use of a door coordinator so that the inactive door always closes first. If the active door closes before the inactive door, the inactive door will remain ajar, defeating security as well as weather, sound or fire sealing. The inactive/active door construction also requires special hardware such as automatic flush bolts, open back strikes, etc. Special hardware can shorten life cycles, decrease security and/or increase maintenance.
In place of the standard astragal, the present invention employs an adjustable assembly attached to the closing edge and in the plane of the door to adjustably close the space between the closing edges of the two doors, and which forces the two doors into planar alignment. The assembly of this invention interlocks the two doors in a structural mutually supporting manner. The assembly eliminates the need for field mounting requirements for automatic flush bolts, open back strikes or door coordinators. The assembly is robust to sustain abusive loads due to misaligned doors or contact with carts, gurneys, etc. Furthermore, the assembly is easily adjustable to allow compensation for frames which are over or undersized or out of plane due either to manufacturing or inaccurate field setting. These and other advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following disclosure.